Exclusive photos: Chris Avalos overcomes Drian Francisco in a gritty scrap; Glen Tapia TKO’s Abie Han in wild slugfest

Chris Avalos, right, and Drian Francisco going to war in Las Vegas (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)

Ringside photos courtesy of Naoki Fukuda

On Friday night, July 12, junior featherweight prospect Chris Avalos picked up a crucial win for his career as he overcame a spirited effort from former interim title challenger Drian Francisco inside of the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

After ten rounds of action, two 97-93 scorecards and a 96-94 tally favored the 23-year old Avalos, who sees his record improve to 22-2 with 16 knockouts. Francisco falls to 24-2-1 with 19 stoppages.

Avalos admitted after his victory that he started slower than he would have liked, but he built momentum from the third round on and appeared to edge several of the late rounds. The action was brisk, but Avalos appeared to do more damage and he had success going to Francisco’s body.

With his only two losses being split-decision verdicts to San Diego’s Chris Martin and current IBF champion Jonathan Romero, Avalos is again upbeat about his career and claims to be ready for a title shot of his own.

In the ESPN “Friday Night Fights” co-feature, Passaic, New Jersey’s Glen Tapia scored a dramatic stoppage victory over El Paso, Texas’ Abraham “Abie” Han in a junior middleweight attraction.

Tapia came out very strong in the first round as he punished and battered Han. The fight appeared as if it may not last too long yet Han dug deep and began to have success in the following stanzas.

As the fight wore on, each man took their share of heavy shots yet Tapia never seemed truly dazed while Han had several moments where he looked shook. An accidental head butt in the fourth round caused Han to pour blood from the side of his head, adding to the intrigue.

Tapia appeared to grow stronger as the contest wore on and he scored a seventh round knockdown of Han that appeared to give him a moral boost. Following the eighth round, a ringside physician elected to halt the action due to Han’s worsening condition.

Tapia improves to 19-0 with 12 knockouts while Han suffers his first loss, going to 19-1, 12 early outs.